May 29, 2013
MILTON, Ga. - No. 1 Cal (277-272 - 549, -11) moved up three spots into second place after the completion of Wednesday's second round of action at the NCAA Championship being played at the Capital City Club in the Atlanta area. The Golden Bears trail host Georgia Tech (274-274 - 548, -12) by a single stroke heading into Thursday's third and final round of stroke play at the par-70, 7,319-yard Crabapple Course.
Three Cal players broke par Wednesday with Max Homa (70-65 - 135, -5) and Brandon Hagy (66-69 - 135, -5) tied for fourth to lead the Bears. Joël Stalter (69-68 - 137, -3) is tied for 16th, while Michael Kim (72-70 - 142, +2) is tied for 58th and Michael Weaver (74-71 - 145, +5) tied for 97th.
Cal had the first tee time of the day at 7 a.m. ET and took advantage of calm and surprisingly cool and cloudy conditions, getting to 17-under for the round and 20-under for the tournament at one point to stake a nine-stroke lead before struggling over the final half of the back nine that featured some of the course's toughest holes as conditions began to warm and become more windy and muggy with the greens becoming more firm.
Cal's four scoring players posted a combined eight-over par score on the final three holes after playing the first 15 in 16-under par to finish with an eight-under par round that was third-lowest of the day one stroke behind Texas and Arkansas.
"When I woke up this morning if you would have told me we were going to shoot somewhere around seven, eight or nine-under par I would have said that's the best thing going," Desimone said. "When we were way up after 13 holes it was party time, but now it's root canal. There's a lot of golf left with a lot of great teams right behind us. We put ourselves in a real good position but this thing is not a done deal."
"To jump out and give ourselves some breathing room from that eighth-place spot was really big because tomorrow is about the most stressful day of all our lives," Homa added.
At stake Thursday is a spot in Friday's match-play quarterfinals, which will feature the top eight teams from the field of 30 that began 54 holes of stroke play Tuesday.
Texas (279-271 - 550, -10), Alabama (275-276 - 551, -9), Arkansas (286-271 - 557, -3), Illinois (276-281 - 557, -3), Arizona State (270-288 - 558, -2) and Texas A&M (285-275 - 560) join Georgia Tech and Cal to make up the top eight after the first two rounds.
Cal is looking to return to match play for the second consecutive season after reaching the national semifinals last season. The Bears won their lone national title in 2004 when the tournament featured 72 holes of stroke play to determine the champion.
Homa had the low round of the day for the Bears with his five-under par 65 tying for the third best of the day and equaling the lowest round ever shot by a Cal player at the NCAA Championship, matching the five-under par 65 shot by Jeff Hood in the first round when Cal won its lone NCAA title in 2004. Homa was eight-under par through 15 with eight birdies and no bogeys before a bogey on the par-four 16th and a double bogey on the par-four 18th brought him back to five-under par for both the round and overall. Homa's team-high eight birdies came on a pair of par-fives (4, 12), four par-fours (1, 2, 5, 7) and two par-threes (13, 15).
"I'm a bit less worried and nervous about my score [than in the past]," said Homa, who as Cal's lone senior is playing in his fourth NCAA Championship. "Yesterday it was a grind, but I knew if I could manage even-par or something around there it would be fine. Today, I came out more patient and after making a bunch of birdies was right back in it."
"He's like all great players, once they get one or two [birdies] they want to get to three or four, then five or six, then seven or eight," Desimone said. "Max certainly was looking at 59, 60 or 61. I can guarantee you that's what he was thinking."
Hagy and Stalter both broke par for the second consecutive round.
Hagy posted a one-under par 69 that included five birdies on the fifth, seventh, 10th, 12th and 17th holes. All of his birdie holes were par-fours other than the par-five 12th. Hagy's four bogeys all came on par-fours (9, 14, 16, 18).
"Brandon followed up what was a really good round yesterday with another solid round today," Desimone added. "This golf course fits him really well. I would expect him to come out and do the same thing tomorrow."
Stalter had the team's second-best round of the day with a two-under par 68 that included a hot streak in the middle when he posted five birdies over a seven-hole stretch. Stalter birdied the par-four seventh and eighth holes in back-to-back fashion. After making two consecutive pars on the par-four ninth and 10th holes, he ran off three birdies in a row with one of each variety on the par-four 11th, par-five 12th and par-three 13th. He gave two strokes back with back-to-back bogeys on the par-four 14th and par-three 15th holes and also had a bogey on the par-three third.
Kim was three-under par and playing bogey-free golf until a double on 16 and a bogey on 18. His three birdies came on the fifth hole and then back-to-back on the 11th and 12th.
Weaver's round was discarded for the second consecutive day despite a respectable one-over par 71 with one birdie on the fifth hole and a pair of bogeys on the 10th and 16th.
Cal will play with Georgia Tech and Texas in the final group of teams teeing off from the first hole in Thursday's final round of stroke play, with the first threesome from the trio teeing off at 1:10 p.m. ET/10:10 a.m. PT.
Cal has won 11 of its first 13 tournaments in 2012-13 to set a modern-era NCAA single-season win record previously established by Oklahoma State in 1985-86. Dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign Cal has won 17 of its last 27 events and finished in the top five in each of them.
NCAA Championship (hosted by Georgia Tech)
Milton, Ga. - Capital City Club, Crabapple Course (par-70, 7,319 yards)
TEAM LEADER BOARD (after 2 of 3 stroke-play days/2 of 3 stroke-play rounds/36 of 54 stroke-play holes)
1. Georgia Tech (274-274 - 548, -12)
2. California (277-272 - 549, -11)
3. Texas (279-271 - 550, -10)
4. Alabama (275-276 - 551, -9)
T5. Arkansas (286-271 - 557, -3)
T5. Illinois (276-281 - 557, -3)
7. Arizona State (270-288 - 558, -2)
8. Texas A&M (285-275 - 560, E)
9. UCF (287-274 - 561, +1)
10. Oklahoma (278-284 - 562, +2)
T11. Tennessee (286-277 - 563, +3)
T11. North Florida (281-282 - 563, +3)
T13. Washington (281-283 - 564, +4)
T13. Florida State (287-277 - 564, +4)
T15. TCU (294-272 - 566, +6)
T15. New Mexico (292-274 - 566, +6)
17. LSU (285-282 - 567, +7)
18. Coastal Carolina (293-275 - 568, +8)
T19. Georgia (286-283 - 569, +9)
T19. USC (291-278 - 569, +9)
T21. UCLA (289-281 - 570, +10)
T21. UNLV (286-284 - 570, +10)
T23. Auburn (292-279 - 571, +11)
T23. Texas Tech (288-283 - 571, +11)
25. Oklahoma State (279-293 - 572, +12)
26. Florida (291-283 - 574, +14)
27. Kent State (282-293 - 575, +15)
28. Ball State (290-289 - 579, +19)
29. Saint Mary's (287-294 - 581, +21)
30. South Carolina (286-296 - 582, +22)
PLAYER LEADER BOARD - INDIVIDUAL LEADER (after 2 of 3 stroke-play days/2 of 3 stroke-play rounds/36 of 54 stroke-play holes)
1. Jon Rahm (Arizona State) 61-72 - 133 (-7)
PLAYER LEADER BOARD - CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 2 of 3 stroke-play days/2 of 3 stroke-play rounds/36 of 54 stroke-play holes)
T4. Max Homa 70-65 - 135 (-5)
T4. Brandon Hagy 66-69 - 135 (-5)
T16. Joël Stalter 69-68 - 137 (-3)
T58. Michael Kim 72-70 - 142 (+2)
T113. Michael Weaver 74-71 - 145 (+5)
